Machine for stranding wires



April 20,1948. A. J. PROSS ER ET AL 1 5 MACHINE FOR STRANDING WIRES.

' 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 1, 1946 Z A TTORNE) PP 1943- -A. J. PROSSER Al. I r 2,440,185

MACHIEE FOR STRANDING WIRES I Filed Aug. 1, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,4 By 5AM In v enlor Attorney Filed Aug. 1, 1 946 4 Shets Sheet 4 F/GB.

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Inventor A ltorney ranged in line along the axis.

Patented Apr. 20, 1948 MACHINE FOR STRANDING WIRES Alfred. James Presser, Rochester, and Ernest Alfred Smith, Gravesend, England, assignors to W. T. Henleys Telegraph Works Company Limited, London, England, a: British company Application August 1, 1946, Serial No. 687,774 In Great Britain August 31,1945

'7 Claims. I

This invention relates to machines for assembling wires into strands by twisting together the wires drawn off from reels carried. in a rotating frame and, in particular, it deals with the type of machine, frequently called a high speed strander, in which the rotating frame is a long tubular structure within-which the reels are ar- In such machines the wire taken from each reel is carried therefrom to and over a guide at or near the inner surface of the wall of the frame, along this wall to the forward end of the frame and then inwards towards the axis and through a can tral aperture in the end plate of the frame and then through the bearing, if present, to a closing die in which the. wires, already twisted together, areformed to a strand of the required diameter.

The invention provides improved automatic means for stopping such a machine when the wire from any of the reels comes to an end or breaks. This stopping action is initiated through an electric circuit arrangement in which are included in turn at short intervals of time all the wires in their passage from the reels to the outlet from the frame so that any break in continuity of any wire in the course of this passage opens a circuit. To obtain this action each wire while within the frame, is caused to pass over a contact that is insulated from the frame and from each of these contacts connection is made to an external circuit at short intervals of time. The external circuit forms part of a control circuit connected with a source of current. Within the frame the control circuit is normally completed through the wires which pass over the contacts. These wires are connected electrically in the strand and are usually also connected through the reels and the frame of the machine. If any one wire has a break the control circuit of which that wire is part is broken and a control device is accordingly brought into action by that circuit.

Since the insulated contacts rotating with the frame of the machine and the external circuits are stationary'it is necessary to have sliding contactarrangements between the two'parts of the control circuit.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood and readily carried out, a high speed stranding machine fitted with a stopping device constructed in accordance with the invention will now be described by way of example and with the aid of the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of an eight bobbin machine incorporating the improved stopping device,

method of mounting the collector,

Figure 5.is a cross-section on the line V--V of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a circuit diagram showing the connections to and from the collector gear of Figure 3,

Figure '7.is a detail of a second form of insulated guide, also drawn to a large scale as compared with Figure 1, and

Figure 8 is a circuit diagram'showing a modification of the circuit shown in Figure 6.

The stranding machine shown diagrammatically in Figure 1 comprises. a rotatably supported tubular frame I driven through gearing 2 by a driving motor M controlled by switchgear SW. The frame carries eight reels 5, of which five are shown, each arranged with its axis coincident with the axis of the rotatably driven frame I. The wire 6 drawn off from each reel passes to and is carried over a guide 1 at or near the inner surface of the wall of the frame, along this wall to a guide 8 at the forward end of the frame andthen inward towards the axis and through a central aperture in the end wall 9v of the frame to a closing die in which the wires are formed to a strand I 0 of the required diameter.

Theinsulated contacts over which, in accordance with the invention, the wires are con strained to pass, are conveniently arranged all together in one region near the outlet end of the frame, being constituted by the guides 3 whichare in the form of pulleys carried by a pulley bracket ll secured toubut insulated from the wall of the frame by a bush f2 and washers H of insulating material, as shown in Figure 2.

' These pulleysare spaced uniformly round the circumferential wall of the frame. When a wire breaks at any point between the reel from which it is being drawn off and the insulated pulley 8 over which it passes, the broken end will be drawn over the pulley and contact therewith will be broken. Between the guides T and 8 other guides H may be mounted to maintain the wires in continuous contact with the pulleys 8. Naturally" other forms of insulated contacts can be used in place of the form shown in Figure 2, for example, the form shown in Figure 7. This is a sleeve I 08 through which the wire passes. The sleeve is preferably of hard wearing metal and is secured to the machine frame I by a stud Ill and insulated therefrom by a bush H2 and washers H3 of insulating material. With this guide, as with that shown in Figure 2, if a break in the wire occurs at a point between the sleeve and the closing die and the wire remains in the guide, centrifugal force will lift the wire momentarily from contact with the guide and break the circuit. 7

By means of insulated leads I511, I51), I50 and so on and a collector gear, designated 0, each insulated contact is intermittently connected for a short interval of time to an external control circuit comprising a relay R, and a source of current B.

The preferred form of collector gear C is shown in Figure 3. It comprises a ring [6 of insulating material carrying on its periphery a number of segments ll'a, lib Hit, of conductive material, one segment for each reel 5. The ring is mounted on the tail end of a tubular shaft 53 running in a bearing l9 and serving as one of the supports for the frame I. A single collector brush 2!] is carried by a brush support 2|. On the other hand instead of a segmental ring of comparatively small diameter there may be used, as shown in Figures 4 and 5 a large diameter ring H6 encircling the frame I and carrying segmentsll7a,ll1b illh swept by abrush I20.

As will be clear from the circuit diagram of the control circuit shown in Figure 6, the brush 2% is wide enough to bridge the gap between adjacent segments so that as long as all the wires remain intact, the circuit remains complete during rotation of the machine, this circuit extending, at any instant when the brush is not bridging the gap between two segments, from one terminal of the source of supply B, through the winding of the relay R, through the brush 2c and the segment underneath it, through the lead extending therefrom the associated insulated contact 8 and the wire 6 in engagement therewith and then through the reelfrom which that wire is being drawn off, to the machine frame to which the other terminal of the source of supply B is grounded. The relay R is a relay of a sumciently quick acting type to ensure that it will be effective in a time less than the time between the moment the segment before a segment associated with a broken wire leaves the brush and the moment the segment following the broken wire segment reaches the brush. Actuation of the relay R trips the switch gear SW which cuts off the power supply to the motor M and preferably also applies a brake BR to the motor shaft.

If desired the circuit shown in Figure 6 can be varied by employing a second brush 20b and making the circuit through two brushes, two insulated leads and two wires in series, the relay R and battery B being connected in series across the. two brushes, as shown in Fig. 8.

What we claim as our invention is:

l. A stranding machine comprising a rotatably driven frame, a plurality of wire-supplying reels housed in said frame, a plurality of contacts, one for each reel, insulated from said frame and over which the wires pass on their way from the reels to the outlet from the frame, a plurality of internal circuits, each including one of the insulated contacts and the wire passing thereover, an external circuit including a source of current and a control device for stopping the machine which device is brought into action on the cessation of current flow therethrough, and means for connecting each internal circuit in turn and at short intervals of time to the external circuit before disconnecting the previously connected internal circuit therefrom, whereby to maintain for the control device a circuit which under normal running conditions is complete but which is interrupted'on the occurrence of a break in any of the wires between the supply reel and the outlet from the frame.

2. A stranding machine comprising a rotatably driven frame, a plurality of wire-supplying reels housed in said frame, a plurality of contacts, one for each reel, insulated from the said frame and over which the wires pass on their way from the reels to the outlet from the frame, a segmental ring rotating with said frame and built up of a plurality of mutually insulated segments,.one for each insulated contact, a plurality of insulatedv leads for connectingeach segment to one of said insulated contacts, a brush sweeping said seg.-. mental ring and having a circumferential length of face greater than the gap between two adjacent segments, and a source ,of current and a quickacting relay, electrically connecting said brush -to said machine frame to complete a circuit including the wire engaging the contact connected to the segment engaged by the brush, said relay, on interruption of the said circuit as by breakage of the wire, operating and stopping the machine.

3. A stranding machine comprising a rotatably driven frame, a plurality of wire-supplyingree'ls housed in said frame, a'plurality of contacts, one for each reel, insulated from said frame and over which the wires pass on their way from the reels to the outlet from the frame, a segmental ring rotating with said frame and built up of a plurality of mutually insulated segments, one for each insulated contact, a plurality of insulated leads for connecting each segment to one of said insulated contacts, a pair of circumferentially spaced brushes sweeping said segmental ring and each having a circumferential length of face greater than the gap between two adjacent segments, and connected across said brushes, a source of current and a quick-acting relay which operates and stops the machine on interruption, as by breakage of a Wire, of a circuit which includes the relay and is normally completed through the Wires passing over the insulated contacts connected to the segments engaged by the brushes.

4.. A stranding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the insulated contacts are spaced round the inner surface of the wall of the frame, between the outlet end of the frame and the nearest reel.

5. A stranding machineas claimed in claim 1,-

- drawn .as it' passes to the stranding point.

6. A stranding machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the insulated contacts is a pulley Which is carried by a support passing through the wall of the frame and insulated therefrom and deflects the wire in its passing to the outlet end of the frame.

. 7. Control means for stopping a stranding machine having a rotating frame housing a plurality of wire-supplying reels, when the wire from any of said reels comes to an end or breaks, comprising an electric circuit including one of the wires 5 passing from the reels to the outlet for the rotating frame, a control device for stopping the machine included in said circuit and actuated by interruption of said circuit, and a switch for replacing the wire included-in said circuit by each of the other wires in turn at short intervals of time and without interrupting said. circuit,

6 whereby any break in continuity of a Wire in the course of its passage from the reel to the outlet interrupts said control circuit and brings the control device into action.

ALFRED JAMES PROSSER. ERNEST ALFRED SMITH. 

